Breathe
by BuzzCat
Summary: When Tony is rescued from the desert, he has a very important phone call to make, and it isn't to Pepper Potts. Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's daughter. Fluffy father-daughter relationship. Rated for language.
1. On the Plane Back

Tony sighed, sagging against the wall of the airplane. Three months. He'd been gone three fucking months. He reached over and plucked Rhodey's phone from his pocket, ignoring the man's protests. Tony quickly typed in a number, then hesitated. Pepper. He really should call Pepper first. After all, she was the one who was there every day. It was possible his girl hadn't even noticed he was gone while she was out studying in New York. Maybe she was just starting to realize that they hadn't talked in months and maybe she should give him a call. Then again, maybe she was enjoying not having to his questions. Tony shook his head, _Fuck it_. He'd talk to whomever he damn well pleased. He hit 'send'. The phone rang twice before a panicked voice picked up,

"Dad?!"

"Hey baby girl. How's college? Anyone cracked a 'Pride and Prejudice' joke yet?" said Tony, his voice still raspy. Darcy gasped over the phone,

"Dad! Are you okay? Fuck, holy shit!" Tony didn't have to be there to know that Darcy was running a hand through her hair. He heard people laughing in the background and music pounding before there was the sound of a closing door and the sound was muffled to almost silence. He frowned,

"Darcy, are you partying?"

"Dad—"

"Oh no. No no no the agreement was I kept my name off the checks and let you do your little broke-college-student shenanigans if you kept your name out of the news. If you are partying so help me I will turn this plane around—"

"Dad! God, no I'm not partying. I'm doing an internship. I'm in New Mexico—"

"New Mexico? I thought college was in New York?"

"It is. However, to get out of sciency science things, I'm taking an internship. I get to come down here, be designated as Official Coffee and Pop-Tarts Acquirer, watch stars, and I get six Science credits. It's pretty great. Of course, you'd know this if you hadn't _dropped off the face of the Earth_." finished Darcy in a rather pointed tone.

"Well, we only talk once a week. I wasn't 100% sure you'd noticed I was gone." Tony was too tired to fully mask the seriousness of his question. With all the things in college, he wasn't sure if she missed him. Not that he wanted her to sit around sighing and being homesick, but this whole she-is-a-responsible-and-capable-adult mantra he had going wasn't really working. He could hear Darcy roll her eyes,

"Dad. You were all over the news. Pepper called me. Plus, we text practically every day. I noticed you were gone."

"Well it's nice to know I was missed. Did you send 'come home safe' flowers?"

"And a card."

"Thank you, I really appreciate them. But as far as not getting in touch goes, the Dying in the Desert cell plan doesn't include coverage in the middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere." he said, smiling. He'd missed his baby girl. Darcy sighed exasperatedly into the phone,

"Dammit, I thought Verizon was supposed to be 4G everywhere."

"Damn marketers. You wouldn't believe the things they don't tell you in the commercials." he said. The pair fell into a comfortable silence, just listening to each other breathe. It was a little scary for Tony to realize how nice that was, to listen to his baby girl breathe. Just to know that she was alive, she was safe. As he listened to Darcy breathe, he felt his own heartbeat calm and breathing even out. It wasn't until then that he realized just how stressed he'd been over her. If the crazies that kidnapped him could bomb his convoy, they could find his daughter. It was that thought that kept him up at night, dying in the cloying heat and filth of that cave. Darcy kept breathing in his ear and Tony sighed, a tiny smile crossing his lips as he listened. It reminded him of years ago, the first time he held her. He'd heard her tiny breaths as she slept, lying on his chest, watched her entire body rise and fall with every breath. Darcy's voice interrupted his reminiscing,

"Dad?" Her voice was small, the same way it was when she'd been young enough to come to him with a bad dream. Tony cleared his throat,

"Yeah?"

"Are you coming home?"

"What, like 'home' in LA or 'home' as in you-at-internship home?"

"Either fly me out or come see me." Tony pulled the phone from his ear and put it by his neck,

"Eh dude? Can we head to New Mexico?" He called to the pilot. Rhodey beside him leaned over,

"What? No! No, we need to get you—"

"To my daughter, thank you. Pilot dude? Get me to New Mexico and I'll get you whatever you want."

"Signed photo for my kid?" asked the young man at the wheel.

"I will write it in a sparkly glitter pen if you want."

"ETA to New Mexico: two hours." Tony smirked and Rhodey leaned back in his seat, not saying a word. Tony brought the phone back to his ear,

"I'll be in New Mexico in two hours. What's the nearest town? I'll meet ya."

"Seriously?" There was a giddy laugh and Tony could hear tears forming over the phone. He shrugged,

"Yeah. Where?"

"Um… Puente Antiguo?" Tony could hear a map rustling and his brow furrowed,

"Where are you, a bar? Why do you have a map with you at a bar?"

"I'm interning with an astrophysicist who substantiates off Pop-Tarts and coffee and who goes 36 hours without sleep. I have some weird shit in my purse." said Darcy. The map rustled some more before Darcy said,

"Yeah, Puente Antiguo. I don't think there's an airport—"

"That won't be a problem. They have roads, don't they?"

"Dad, don't go—"

"No worries. I love you and I'll see you when I land. Mwah!" Tony closed the phone and leaned back in his chair, vision clouding as moisture collected in his eyes. He hadn't expected so many emotions so fast when he got back. He knew Pepper would cry and he hoped Darcy's eyes would be at least a little dewy for Dear Old Dad, but he didn't think _he'd_ cry. Tony Stark didn't cry. And if he did…there were nondisclosure agreements for that.


	2. After the First Press Conference

"Dad, I saw your press conference." said Darcy. She lay in the camper, watching the 8-inch television screen flicker with reporters scrambling. It was a replay from earlier in the day, when her brilliant, genius of a father decided to nix his company's main product. She'd called her dad later that evening, figuring she had the best chance then of him not being surrounded by reporters.

"So? What did you think? The camera add the normal ten pounds?" he said.

"Dunno, depends on how many you lost while you were in a goddamn cave." she said. Tony smiled, then winced. Those were facial muscles that hadn't gotten a lot of use in three months.

"So, what do you think?" he said. He was serious. Darcy sighed and ran a hand through greasy hair,

"So you didn't tell me about this when we last talked _six hours ago_ because…?"

"Because I didn't know I wanted to do it until we touched down."

"So this was a super-duper well thought-out thing. Dad, you do know you're totally fucking with my inheritance, right?"

"I've got something in the works. Something good." said Tony under his breath. Darcy sat up on her bed,

"What's going on?"

"I can't tell you."

"Dad, c'mon. You have told me all kinds of things I had no business knowing and now you're going to clam up?"

"Look, I'm sorry baby. I have to play this one a little closer to chest." he said. He didn't want to say that, but something was wrong. Something in his gut said that something was very wrong here. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Darcy something that would get her hurt. Darcy flopped back down with a frustrated sigh,

"I don't like you keeping secrets from me any more than you like me keeping them from you."

"Well hey, tell me everything I ever wanted to know and maybe I'll talk."

"Tommy Hughes, I was seventeen. Now spill."

"Wh—HEY! Hey, what—no, no—really? Tommy? Did I ever—was he the kid who played ukulele?"

"He played bass, Dad."

"Whatever. Regardless, he is wildly not up to par for you and I would just like to say that—"

"Dad. Stop stalling."

"Darcy," he pinched the bridge of his nose, "as horrifying as that brief interlude into the past was, I still can't tell you. You know I want to, but—"

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, I'm glad you're back. Just promise," he heard her draw a deep breath on the other end, "promise me that you'll at least try to keep the danger to a minimum."

"I promise." Even as he said it, Tony knew it was a lie. There was nothing safe about his plan. He heard a clatter on Darcy's end, "What was that?" A girlish giggle in the background and Darcy said,

"Jane just got back from stargazing, and it sounds like she used the bottom of the bottle for a telescope. I'm going to go put my second favorite scientist to bed. G'night Dad. Be safe. Say hi to Pepper and Happy and JARVIS for me."

"I will. G'night Darcy." he waited until he heard her disconnect, "I love you."

Hundreds of miles away, Darcy whispered into her disconnected phone, "Love you, dad." She threw the phone onto her bed and walked into the bathroom, pulling back Jane's hair as the brunette barfed into the toilet.


End file.
